Color My Smile
by cheesyfreezy
Summary: Have you ever seen a rainbow smiling? Shuuhei did. It was yellow, and the most beautiful things he'd ever seen.


My first (andProbablyOnly) HisaSoi. I had fun writing this C:

DEDICATED to the wonderful **Blueberry Absinth**- a late birthday gift for the most adorable kid :pPp

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. _ Pfft, seriously? I even doubt someone with an authority to sue me would be lifeless enough to read fanfiction.

Enjoy~ :D

* * *

Have you ever seen a rainbow smiling?

All the splendid colors in your eyes, frowning

…

* * *

**SuìFēng**-taichou was a lot of things. She was smart, strong, loyal, unbending, daunting, taunting, scary, scared, fragile, petite, and lonely.

_Lonely._

She was a lot of things, but vivid was not amongst them. So, when Yoruichi_-_san left to Karakura town, Soifong was always seen busy, training herself, her comrades, and living life the way she used to.

"_Fukutaichou-san, Yamamoto-sama summons you to his office, at 15:00"_

Since then, nothing's changed. She just lives her life the way Yoruichi-san used to, without Yoruichi.

No mother, no embrace.

Soifong was fine.

* * *

_'Hmm, such a pleasant weather.'_** Shūhei ****Hisagi** sighed contently as he was heading home after his training session. Indeed, it was very pleasant to witness the purple hues of the horizon as the sun called it a day and decided to shine upon an opposite dark city, especially that the usual hues in this time of year were all gray, a color that disturbed his black-and-white philosophy of the world.

On his way home, Shuuhei passes through the marketplace of Seireitei, signaling friendly courtesies to some modest shop owners whom he sees everyday. Taking an amusing note on how Tamaki-san's fish shop was filled with customers while her sister's, Kumiko-san's flower shop was almost empty, save for the owner and a discreetly-looking lady (she was a lady, right? That soft hair could not belong to a man's) who was examining some sunflowers.

Raising his eyebrows in amusement, the Fukutaichou couldn't help wondering why a woman would be so tactful about buying some flowers. So, having nothing better to do anyway, Shuuhei headed to Kumiko-san's small garden-hut wearing a smile.

-"Good afternoon, Kumiko-san" he saluted the young flowerist graciously.

-"Good afternoon, Hisagi-sama! How was your day?" the cheerful voice of the redhead greeted the man while she was arranging a bouquet of hibiscuses.

-"It was fine, thank you." He replied humbly as he eyed the small cloaked figure at the Sunflowers' corner. As soon as his eyes shifted to her, though, the mysterious lady sent a shivering-cold glare that made Goosebumps flutter visibly against his skin.

Shuuhei averted his gaze slowly, suddenly finding interest in the small, purple daisies that tickled his crossed arms. _'If looks could kill…'_

-"Hn. I had a fair look on it, thank you." The woman said as she excused herself. Subtly following her figure as she was out, Shuuhei's eyes widened briefly as he recognized the Zanpakuto at the curve of the woman's hip. _'Suzumebachi?'_

Shuuhei went home that night with a new discovery. Soifong-Taichou was not only weird, but she also loves Sunflowers. Why?

He guessed she felt lonely, in a night when girls adored a mother's warmth, and boys enjoyed a father's wisdom. He understood, too, what it's like to lose a reason, twice: one to fight for, and one to live for.

Shuuhei fingered the tattoo that adorned his left cheek, closing his eyes to welcome yet another dreamless sleep.

* * *

Wiping the sweat off of her forehead as she panted lightly, Soifong felt a drop of water tickle her nose. She had been training for three hours now, with the rain promising a near plummet. Looking up, the gray that draped the sky seemed to arouse the shivers to crawl up her spine, as she wrapped her captain-hakama around her form.

Was it the rain, or did Seireitei suddenly become so small? Soifong wondered as she shunpo-ed towards the 2nd's barracks, with a small curious question in her mind.

Ever since her last visit to the flower shop, she had been receiving different kinds of yellow flowers: yellow Daisies, Roses, Begonias, Buttercups, Carnations, and one single Sunflower. Of course, she regarded the 'gifts' as a juvenile act, ignoring all of them outside her window (except the Sunflower; she kept that in a pot on the nightstand beside her bed). How the person got there was a little unnerving to her, but that's where she got an idea of their identity.

Only other squads' members were welcome in hers, and only high-class members were allowed in her quarters; due to important captain-connections. And since she had encountered a certain Fukutaichou in a certain garden-hut recently, the one likely speculation was the 9th Lieutenant: Hisagi Shuuhei.

So, once she got inside, Soifong darted to her room a little more quickly than she usually would, and, despite the biting cold, opened her window to shelter the bouquet of dripping Sunflowers.

Arranging them into the same pot where she kept the single Sunflower, a tiny smile painted her lips as a dark spot tainted the floor beneath her dripping form.

The lonely Sunflower had a family, now.

* * *

Shuuhei was never the kind of man for sly deeds. He always got right to the point, straight forward to what he meant. When he fought, Kazeshini's inverted spikes reaped the core of his target without compromise, and when he was interested in a woman, he made it clear to her, his purpose.

But Shuuhei was not interested in the short Taichou. No, it was like being drawn to something as stupendous as a rainbow in a balmy day; you can't be 'interested' in observing a new world of colors, it was just out of nature that you try to figure it out.

Having lived almost all his life in black and white, colored emotions were foreign to the Fukutaichou. Only one color stood significant in his life lately, though: Black. Shuuhei was black, his estimations, actions and beliefs strayed thus ways.

Black was good; it fathered all the colors in the world, sometimes too welcoming for its own good. So as he slyly sauntered into Soifong's quarters, a yellow flower in hand, Shuuhei was quite startled by the welcoming bow of the woman.

-"Hisagi-san, I am astounded of your underhandedness. Has it always been that hard for you to face me?" she leered at him, leaning against the doorframe of her room.

Shuuhei's breath hitched for a second, astonished at being caught. Then, in a very Shuuhei-like way, he scratched the back of his head, sheepishly smiling at her.

-"Well, I… Erm, it would have been misunderstood if I were to hand you the flowers myself." He admitted, sighing quietly in submission.

Soifong raised a thin eyebrow in amusement. That was still a very Soifong-like manner. Shuuhei shifted his feet, finally averting his eyes to the ground in embarrassment.

Then she chuckled. Kids playing, a boy falling, the black of his hair ruffled with mud and laughter; a nostalgic vision suddenly engulfed Shuuhei's mind from his days in Rukongai. She _chuckled._

As far as he had known her, Shuuhei had never witnessed such a glorious sound escape the Taichou's throat. From a stranger's sight, Soifong would pass for a Chinese porcelain doll a King would hold property of- pale, frail and luxuriously expensive. But she was not a doll, and her laughter was not jingles of soft beads on fragile glass. And that alone made him realize something.

Looking up to see the peace on her features, Shuuhei was satisfied he had the chance to witness that look. He realized, that maybe, life wasn't all black and white after all. If Soifong smiled, there was a yellow in gray sometimes.

-"Arigatou, Hisagi-san. You lightened up the storms." She bowed her head lightly in gratitude. He knew he did something good if it made her show the side he doubted anyone else had seen before. Well, anyone else but Yoruichi, he guessed.

Smiling sincerely at her, he walked over to where she was standing and stood a few inches away from her. Shuuhei lifted up some stray strands of smooth hair, enjoying the silky feeling between his fingers for a moment before tugging it behind the unaltered woman's ear, tangling the small sunflower within it.

-"I'm glad you think so." He muttered slowly. Soifong closed her eyes as his fingers lingered on her ear, sending shivers of a totally different kind than she would feel in this cold.

They stayed up for hours, sitting on the front steps, Soifong leaning back on the railing as Shuuhei's fingers busied themselves in her small braid, talking together, outside, in winter. They have never felt warmer before.

Shuuhei never felt this content. _'I could really fall for this woman'_ he thought satisfied. It was his purpose from now on- to make Soifong chuckle, smile, talk and look like that a lot more often. To make Soifong see the colors she's showing him everyday, with every curve of her lips, with every new reason for him to breathe.

Soifong never felt this childish. It feels wistfully magnificent. She wanted to feel like this everyday. He made her feel giddy; it was so peculiar for her, yet so addictive. _'I could really live with this man forever.'_

_..._

He was her new embrace, her spark-showering sun; she no longer woke up looking for home. She was his new reason to fight, and to live, his world of gray between black and white.

And between the child and the blind, the rainbow after the storm will be smiling.

* * *

**Teehee~! I have never imagined I would write for this pairing. But I did, I hope I didn't mess up xp**

**So, Topna (Bori-san, Bluey-tan, Blueberry-sama, etc..), you better write a critique for this and tell me what you think. Twice. Once for the good and another for the downhills x3**

**And readers, you better know that if you review, Jesus will love you. And Hisagi. And Byakuya. And whoever else you want, too. Don't be mean D:x**


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